The type of breast pad which has been conventionally used is shown in FIG. 8. In this drawing, each of the breast pads 1, which is in an approximately circular dome shape, is placed in each cup 3 of a brassiere 2.
The breast pad 1, as shown in a front view in FIG. 9 and in a side view in FIG. 10, is of a circular dome shape and is comprised of a plurality of flexible members laminated in the thickness direction. In detail, the breast pad 1 is made by laminating a surface member disposed on an inner surface which directly touches a user's skin, an absorbent member and a waterproof member for preventing fluid from leaking from the absorbent member to clothing.
An adhesive member 4 is formed at a predetermined position on the surface of the waterproof member. As shown in FIG. 8, the adhesive member 4 is adhered to an inner surface of the cup 3 of the brassiere 2 to fix the breast pad. In this manner, these breast pads 1 are prevented from slipping off the underwear.
In the meantime, the breast pad 1 is formed into a dome shape as mentioned above so as to closely cover a breast of a user(not shown).
In order to manufacture the breast pad 1 of such a shape, a method shown in FIG. 11 has been conventionally employed.
As shown in FIG. 11, members constituting the main body of the breast pad 1 are laminated as explained above, and then placed onto a female die 5 having a bowl-shaped inner surface. Thereafter, a male die 6 having a convex dome shape as shown in FIG. 11 is lowered to press the members while heating the members by the male die 6 and/or female die 5.
In this manner, the heated main body of the breast pad 1 is formed into a dome shape.
Since it is necessary to deform the members into a dome shape with heat in the manufacturing process, the waterproof member of the breast pad 1, for example, is made of a heat-deformable materials such as a polyethylene laminate sheet.
Consequently, the breast pad 1 as a final product has relatively hard feeling after the heat deformation, and is not necessarily comfortable as a final product for directly touching a user's skin.
In some breast pads 1, various considerations are taken such as the surface member (to be directly fitted to a user's skin) is softened and a special processing is applied to the sealed portion between the surface member and the waterproof member, so as not to cause an unpleasant feeling via the peripheral edge of the round pad. However, in cases where the whole waterproof member is thermally deformed, such a partial improvement did not help to avoid the hard feeling of the product. Accordingly, it was difficult to obtain a conformable product.
In addition, even if the main body of the breast pad 1 is formed to have a dome-shape by the heat deformation process, the main body is poor in shape-retaining ability, resulting in a flat shape during wearing. This in turn causes the shape of the breast pad to be inconsistent with the front shape of the user's breast, deteriorating the fitting of the breast pad, which causes the slipping of the breast pad. A resulting drawback is that breast milk is spilled without being absorbed thus soiling the user's clothing.
The present invention is proposed to solve the aforementioned problems. The first object thereof is to provide a breast pad which can be formed to have a dome-shape and is excellent in shape-retaining performance.
In addition, the second object of the present invention is to provide a dome-shaped breast pad which has not been formed by a heat treatment process, so as to avoid discomfort associated with materials which have been subjected to heat deformation and/or heat treatment.